Kelly Times Two

The Last Mimzy was a kids' science fiction movie that was somewhat suspenseful, and I think kid pleasing. However, I get really annoyed when ever I hear things like, "Don't tell your parents," or "know one will ever know," and sneakiness. It really bothers me and I don't even like when anyone jokingly or in seriousness tells my kids that. It is teaching them dishonesty, which is the ultimate bad character trait. So, there are a few things in Mimzy that would make me not want my 9-year-old to see it, but other than that, it was fine. It did keep my interest. So, today I spent a good part of the day shopping around in furniture stores, and bought some attractive bookshelves for my office. When the house was being built, I had my office designed without a closet to make the room larger, however, with all of my Pampered Chef business garb, and all of my stamping hobby goodies, I find it hard to keep things organized and easily accessible. My office is gettin...

Charlotte's Web was such an enjoyable movie and I recommend you see it if you haven't already. I even got a bit teary in parts of it. It was really a sweet movie, well done. I want to watch it with kids. For lunch today, I took my sister Tracy's advice to check out Chipotle, which I never had. She told me exactly what to order, a burrito bowl, with pintos, chicken, medium and corn salsa, with sour cream and cheese. I followed her advice, but also added the pico de gallo and lettuce. Plus I got some chips and guacamole, as she advised. It was tasty and I'll definitely be heading back there again. Although I have half of it left and could eat it tomorrow too. Robin came over today and was here for several hours and we talked and talked and talked. It was a really enjoyable visit and she's a sweet person, and I'm glad to have met her through card camp. Her mom is in our ward. Stephanie just stopped by to get her supplies to help with Thursday's card camp and s...

Well, it's been a low-key, lazy day today. I didn't make it to church since I woke up with a stomach ache and I've stayed in my pj's all day long. My friend, Danielle, came by for a few hours to help get ready for Thursday's card camp while I lounged out on the sofa as she cut cardstock. I got a couple of phone calls from my sisters and Michele called to check up on me since I wasn't at church. That made me feel good, that if something did happen to me, she would have at least made an attempt to call. It's kind of weird being all alone. I made a tuna and veggie casserole, which was way too much, considering it's only me here, but it sounded good. I skimmed through my August Ensign, since I didn't get a spiritual boost at church. It wasn't quite the same, but I still enjoyed looking through it. I plan to watch another movie tonight. Last night I saw Nacho Libre, which was goofy, but funny in parts. I kept thinking of Jared in his Halloween costume...

This afternoon I dropped my family off at the Austin-Bergstrom airport, and gave them all hugs and kisses good-bye at the United Airlines curbside, destination: Denver. I stopped by Star Furniture to do a little browsing, then drove through the drive-through at Taco Cabana for dinner. I came home for a while, changed clothes, then went to a wedding reception. Then I went to the mall to close down Dillards, then Macy's, but didn't buy anything. It was fun. I came home, popped some popcorn, and am now heading upstairs to watch a movie. I've always thought this would be the perfect vacation to send everyone off and have the house to myself. Kelly has called me three times, so that makes me feel good!

Today is my one year anniversary for starting my blog! Now I need to find a way to print it out and bind it, so I will be able to say I have kept a journal faithfully. Here's a link to my SECOND post on the first day I started this last year. Thank you for all the comments! And thank you to all of my blogging friends. I love reading your updates.

"Mom, today has been the best day. Thank you so much!" Lindsey told me after the 23 teen-aged guests left our house last night after 11 pm. Here's the cake I baked. It was a carrot cake with a ton of frosting and sprinkles. Guests from left to right included Jessica, Emma, Jill, Emily, (birthday girl Lindsey), McKenzie, Lauren, Jen, Zach, Paul, Kayla, Sierra, and Kathy. Scott, John-Michael, Julia, Preston, Jared, Ivan, and Jeff also attended. Not pictured are Craig, Hayden, Tom, and Brady. "Wilbur" displayed the menu of Pesto Party Squares, Tamale Round About, Tropical Turkey and Spinach Salad, California Wraps, Hawaiian Dip with Fruit Kabobs, Caramel Corn Snack Mix, Birthday Cake and Ice Cream, and Assorted Soft Drinks. I cooked everything except the Tamale Round About and made a last minute change to serve Chili Dogs, which I'm so glad I did, because the kids seemed to really enjoy those. Some of the ones with more gourmet taste-buds liked the other goo...

My nephew Brendan, whose initials are B. I. G., is a professional model and I was excited to see his print ads in Old Navy today. He's such a cutie. (Doesn't he look just like his lovely Aunt Kelly?) Brendan has been in some Mazda commercials and some other big brands, but for some reason, I was excited about the Old Navy ads because I shop there often. He's one year younger than my son, Christopher, and is my sister, Valerie's, second son. So when you're shopping, be sure to check for his photos and comment on this post about Brendan sightings--of course you can comment on the blog before you see the ad too! The manager at the Old Navy near me took my phone number and said she'd call me when they take the photos down, to give to me. Don't know what I'll do with them, but I thought it was rather thoughtful.

Lindsey will be 16 on the actual day of her party. I love the way her invitations turned out. I made a sample one to post to my blog that doesn't have our actual contact info so I could at least show everyone what I designed. Sweet 16 and never been kissed! Yay! I'm so proud of my wonderful daughter. We're celebrating her big day next week!

My friend, Jillian , made a list of 101 things about her on her blog and when I first saw the post, I thought it was REALLY long, but it was fun to read. It's late and my husband is out of town and I miss him, and am bored, so I'll see if I can come up with 101 things to write. Everyone can think of 101 things about themselves to write, right? I'm a rubber stamping fanatic and have been into card making for years. My entire black buffet in my hallway is filled with rubber stamps and I use them all the time. It's ridiculous how many I have. I have a postage stamp collection, hidden, somewhere that I haven't touched in years. I'm the middle child of five kids. There's Tracy, Marc, me, Valerie, then Julie . Last night when I was typing this list, I heard a sound and ran upstairs and went to bed because I was scared since Kelly is out of town. I make friends easily and like people. Our family moved a gazillion times when I grew up (like 50), which is probably wh...

Kelly (not me, but my husband) is heading to Colorado for the weekend. This was taken in the line at Casa Bonita in Denver when we went there for spring break. It's Kelly with his two sisters and all ten of our kids together, half of which are/will be adopted. (Each of the three siblings has adopted one or two kids. Kelly and I started a contagious trend.) Kelly is rescuing his two sisters' (Debbie and Brenda) computer crisis at their physical therapy clinic this weekend. Their current system, which he always helps out with when he's in Colorado, has gotten to the point of no return. In other words, some of their employees may not return unless their computer problems are solved asap. So last week, Kelly ordered three grand worth of computer equipment and has spent just about every spare moment he's had this week building new computers for their office in our game room, on a long conference table and will be flying out there over the weekend to install everything. So, i...

Last Friday, Lindsey's friend, Mindi, arrived from Colorado for a visit. She just left for home today and each one wished that Mindi could stay another week to visit. Mindi and Lindsey have known each other their entire lives and even had their baptism service together when they were eight years old when we lived in Colorado. Mindi's dad, John, was Kelly's roommate at BYU, plus Kelly's family has been friends with Mindi's mom's family for years, going on many family ski trips to Vail, and other fun social events. Mindi, six weeks younger than Lindsey, has always towered over Lindsey in height, as you can see in the pictures below. They spent this past week as roommates in San Antonio at EFY and had a blast and a very uplifting week together. The theme at EFY this year was Power in Purity, which they really enjoyed and thought this was the best EFY yet. Saturday morning after Mindi arrived, we talked about going out to breakfast at Village Inn, but instead, Kell...

...and we have the EXPLOSIVES to prove it! Happy 4th of July , everyone! Here's my china hutch this July. I love my flag plates with the Warren Kimble design and the red plates, and especially, my Uncle Sam and other patriotic festivities. Have a safe and non-rainy day.

Lindsey is in San Antonio this week at Trinity University for a BYU sponsored week of EFY (Especially for Youth) and is rooming with her best friend from Colorado, Mindi. The two of them have been so excited about spending the week together and the time is finally here. We grabbed a quick lunch at Whataburger before I took the girls to check in at the dorms. Check out the cricket crawling around on the floor under Lindsey's bench. It adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the meal. (I'm sure my French is misspelled here....) Staying in a college dorm for these two fifteen-year olds is so liberating! They were so happy to be there. I hope they're having a fun week. We'll pick them up on Saturday morning. This was the name tags on their door of their dorm. Christopher thought it looked like a lot of fun and already has picked out who he wants to room with in five years when he's old enough to go to EFY.